143. Even Unable to Kill

2024.02.20.

The atmosphere below the mountain was more urgent than ever before.

Under Federico’s command, the marquisate’s knights efficiently dismantled their tents and evacuated to a nearby village they had discovered.

It was around this time that Noel and Tasha, who had been searching the beach for Yuan, found a note.

“She went to gather herbs since dawn?”

Tasha was furious—first for failing to notice the note herself, and second at Yuan for acting so recklessly.

The village chief, who had offered shelter for Federico and the remaining soldiers, saw Tasha raging and began sweating profusely, circling nervously before cautiously stepping forward.

“U-um… The person we gave directions to… was that Her Highness the Crown Princess?”

“G-gave directions?”

Now it was Noel who gasped in shock.

The hunched village chief scratched the back of his head and explained the whole story.

At this, the medical officer also began scratching his head.

“I… I may have mentioned earlier that I was running low on medicine for deep wounds.”

“But still! Even so!”

“It wasn’t a dangerous path! Until yesterday, even children went up and came back down quickly! It was a route the pirates themselves guaranteed as safe!”

Federico, who had been silently observing, added his voice to the conversation as Tasha’s expression grew increasingly dark.

Though he didn’t entirely understand Yuan, he had heard that without her, Eugene Kimfri would not have arrived with reinforcements.

Thus, he found himself instinctively siding with her.

“Her Highness must have been trying to help us. Our soldiers began climbing the mountain early this morning, so the real threat isn’t the pirates—it’s the storm. Chief, how long do you think this storm will last?”

“Probably one or two nights. You absolutely must not go outside.”

“But the soldiers who climbed the mountain haven’t returned yet—what are we to do…”

At that moment.

The door to the massive food storage warehouse where they had taken shelter swung open.

Tasha’s face brightened as she saw the people who stepped in through the gust of wind.

Fortunately, the message to relocate the base had reached the descending soldiers in time. Eugene Kimfri, drenched and disheveled, trudged in with heavy footsteps.

“Where is Her Highness?”

“Don’t even ask! She went up the mountain! We only found the note much later!”

As Tasha quickly ran over and handed him a towel, Eugene shook his hair with dull, weary eyes.

Behind him, soldiers poured into the warehouse and began removing their clothes to dry them near the braziers placed around the room.

As the warehouse quickly filled with people, noise erupted.

In the midst of the commotion, Frederic glanced around as if searching for someone, and Eugene calmly delivered the news.

“The mission is complete.”

“D-did you cut off Karso’s head?”

“Yes.”

“Where is the head? And… His Highness…”

At the mention of Clade, Eugene’s expression visibly hardened.

Federico approached Eugene, who was impatiently removing his upper garment.

“Was there a problem?”

“The head was taken by His Highness, as planned. But after hearing about Her Highness, we all searched while descending….”

Eugene handed the towel he had used to dry himself to Tasha and glanced around.

“Since neither of them is here, it means both Their Highnesses are trapped on that mountain in this storm.”

“D-does that mean they’re stranded? Even my brother?”

Noel, who had been silently processing the situation, suddenly jumped up.

“S-shouldn’t we all go out and search for them? If they’re together, that’s fortunate. But if not, this is a disaster! C-Clade is injured, and Y-Yuan is in very poor health!”

Unable to contain himself any longer, Noel dashed toward the entrance and flung the warehouse door open with all his strength.

At that instant, wind and rain like crashing waves lashed against Noel’s body and clawed into the doorway.

Federico and his retainers rushed over, using their bodies to push the door shut and then locking it firmly.

Soaked to the bone, Noel stood there dazed, and Federico swallowed hard before calming him.

“In weather like this, we can only wait. Going outside is suicide.”

Inside the windowless warehouse, those who had returned safely fell silent.

Wind that seemed to shake the entire island battered the food warehouse—the sturdiest building in the village—as if trying to tear it apart.

“Yuan…”

Noel’s clear eyes stared pitifully at the door, trembling with each booming impact.

***

A small cave located on a mountain ridge.

In a shallow corner, there were clear signs of a recent fire and temporary habitation.

Perhaps this was where the pirate who had tried to abduct Yuan had taken shelter the previous day.

Yuan didn’t know how Clade, who had spent ten years confined in a mansion, could instantly detect human traces.

But in the storm where she couldn’t see even an inch ahead, she was as good as blind, while Clade, like the only one with sight, had forcibly dragged and shoved her into this cave.

Then, over the still-dry remnants of a campfire, he quickly dumped firewood neatly stacked in the corner of the cave and ignited a fire, before vanishing outside in a blink.

Yuan sat near the small fire, hugging her soaked body and shivering violently.

If Clade hadn’t dragged her through the storm like a half-mad man, she might have flailed about helplessly and drowned in the endless sea.

Soon, Clade returned dragging something massive like a boulder and blocked the entrance, leaving only enough space for one person to pass.

Damp footprints rapidly approached the campfire.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The mysterious severed head he had been carrying rolled across the dark corner, emitting a chilling sound.

Yuan flinched at the noise.

An eerie sound, like the wrath of an ancient ghost, seeped through the narrowed cave entrance and stirred the entire space.

Feeling her ears ring, Yuan briefly hunched her shoulders before lifting her head toward the shadow cast upon her along with the footsteps.

Beneath his soaked, disheveled blond hair.

Blood vessels stood out vividly in his eyes, bloodshot and reflecting the firelight, glowing with a sinister red glare.

“Are you insane?”

Rainwater streaming down from his golden hair, over his firm cheek, dripped steadily onto the damp cave floor.

His tightly strained forehead and twitching cheek muscles clearly showed how close he was to the edge of his sanity.

Low, barely audible curses continuously crumbled from Clade’s lips.

Clade roughly swept back his wet golden hair, glared down at Yuan as if he wanted to hammer her into the ground like a nail, and twisted his otherwise perfect face into a grimace.

“If that pirate had aimed for your body instead of your head, you wouldn’t be here right now. Do you understand?”

The tip of his wet chin pointed toward the cave entrance, where eerie sounds kept flowing in.

“Can you hear that? Even that headless pirate bastard won’t come out in weather like this. What the hell were you thinking, chasing up here…”

Clade’s words, pouring out like a broken dam, suddenly stopped.

Seeing Yuan silently looking up at him, it was as if a massive boulder, not blocking the cave entrance, had sealed his own mouth shut.

Staring into those dark eyes for a long moment, Clade clenched his teeth and spat out.

“Go die if you want. Do it alone.”

With a cold, sharp bark, Clade turned his head away, refusing to look at Yuan any longer.

“And don’t die in front of me—of all the damn bad luck.”

He clenched his jaw tightly, holding it still.

Pressed the bulging blood vessel on his wet forehead with his fingertips.

Then leaned against the wall near the entrance, several steps further from Yuan, and sat down.

His sharply honed violet eyes glared at the storm outside, obliterating the landscape.

Yuan’s darkened eyes followed Clade’s faint silhouette, drifting down to his thigh where his soaked clothes clung tightly.

There, the firm outline of his strong thigh was clearly revealed.

Amid the gloomy wind, Yuan’s faint voice reached out.

“Aren’t you the one who’s gone mad?”

The eyes that had been fixed on the outside snapped sharply toward her.

Yuan, with a cold, composed face, tightly gripped—then released—the herb basket beside her.

She no longer needed to gather courage to speak to him.

After all, she was slowly growing angry at Clade, who, despite being injured, stubbornly threw himself into danger.

“What?”

A hoarse, rough voice answered, and Yuan abruptly stood up and walked toward the entrance.

This time, Yuan’s small shadow fell across Clade’s face.

Unlike his gaze, which met her pale face, Yuan’s eyes continued to focus on his leg.

“Why don’t you treat your leg?”

“Are you crazy? You crawl all the way up here, and the first thing you say is this?”

“You think I came here because I wanted to?”

For a moment, cold anger flickered in Yuan’s dark eyes.

“Why did I come to this island? I saw Your Highness heading alone with Lord Federico toward the coast where pirates were gathering.”

“What?”

Before the bewildered look could fade from Clade’s face, Yuan quickly continued.

“I didn’t need to rush. Since you were injured so badly your bones were visible, I could just follow the blood trail. Where the blood trail ended, a large ship had already departed from the shore.”

“It’s none of your damn business. How many times must I tell you not to appear before me before you understand?”

“If you don’t want me in front of you, then stop making me worry!”

Yuan closed her eyes as if utterly disgusted, shaking her head and shouting.

What kind of curse had been lifted?

What kind of separation had occurred?

How could she possibly stay still, watching Clade recklessly throw his life into danger, not even valuing the life she had struggled so hard to save?

He had no idea that if he were injured or died, it would mean absolutely nothing to Yuan.

“If you don’t understand, then just stay silent. Don’t cause me trouble. You don’t know anything about me.”

“And aren’t you the one who knows nothing about me?”

Yuan suppressed her rising emotions with a sharp exhale and bit out the words.

“You, above all, don’t know anything—so stop acting like you do.”

Startled for a brief moment by Yuan’s retort, Clade twisted his wet lips and spoke.

“Anyway, it doesn’t matter anymore, does it?”

Before Yuan could respond to his suddenly defiant attitude, Clade snapped in a low voice.

“You left because you were fed up with me. That’s it. Done.”

His voice, laced with mockery, gradually shifted into anger.

As if utterly baffled, Clade glared at Yuan and spat out dark emotions one by one.

“You hate me like this? So what? You left—that settles it, damn it.”

Then he sharply turned his head away again.

Yuan was surprised by Clade’s reaction—revealing his inner feelings for the first time since their separation—but her greater concern was his injury. She forced herself to ignore his words and gritted out.

“Get yourself treated.”

As her small hand bravely reached toward his thigh, a firm hand immediately slapped it away.

A man’s voice, growling like a snarl through clenched teeth, was harsh.

“Don’t touch me. Unless you truly want to die by my hands.”

But Yuan was no pushover.

Looking down at the man trying to push her away, just as last night, a voice that would provoke Clade burst from Yuan’s lips.

“You can’t even kill me anyway.”

“…What?”

“You hate it so much that even a single ant dying before your eyes… You can’t bear it. So stop putting on this act.”

Yuan murmured, clenching her teeth just as tightly as Clade had.